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Gucci Fiat 500 available for the holidays

Fiat has a Gucci-styled 500 out in time for the holidays. Photo Credit: Adam Russell/Wikimedia Commons/CC-BY

Fiat is trying to get more people to buy the 500, the European brand’s popular mini car. Fiat has enlisted Jennifer Lopez to help the brand and is offering a Gucci-styled version to attract the jet-set.

Designer clothes fans can now get designer cars

Just in time for the holidays, there is a new product by Gucci, and actress and singer Jennifer Lopez is the spokeswoman. The item is the Gucci edition of the Fiat 500, the mini car by Chrysler’s parent company. The car, according to USA Today, lists for $23,500, $8,000 more than the base 500. The cabriolet lists for $4,000 more.

The car has the Gucci badges with the trademark red and green stripes and comes with a leather-appointed interior and all the amenities one would expect, such as Bluetooth, airbags, hill-start assist and other features.

Sales still flagging

According to the New York Times, Fiat set a sales goal of 50,000 this year. It had sold only about 16,000 by November, compared to 47,050 MiniCoopers. The Mini, by BMW, is considered the closest competition for the 500.

The hitch, according to USA Today, largely was due to a slow-growing dealer network, but the dealer network might not being the sole problem. Out of the more than 100 dealerships offering Fiat 500s in October, 29 didn’t sell a single one.

It also doesn’t help that the Fiat 500 commercial starring Jennifer Lopez has her driving past a mural saying “I love the Bronx” despite the commercial being mostly filmed in Los Angeles, according to the Daily Mail.

More for less

Part of the appeal of the Fiat and MiniCooper is that both are slightly smaller than the average subcompact. Both get good mileage and can be parked with ease on cramped city streets, which is why both models are popular in Europe. However, with the range of subcompacts currently available, it almost makes more sense to buy a little more car for the same or less money.

The base 500 lists for $15,500 and gets 30 miles per gallon city/38 miles per gallon highway with a five-speed manual. The base Mini, with similar mileage, is $20,200.

The Toyota Yaris two-door hatchback gets almost identical mileage with a manual transmission and costs only $14,115. The interior room is about the same, with slightly more head room, leg room and cargo space. The same goes for the $14,375 Mazda 2, $14,635 Chevy Sonic and the $13,600 Kia Rio five-door hatchbacks.